[yasr_overall_rating]
A pilot lands work for the CIA and as a drug runner in the south during the 1980s.
When Hollywood releases a movie that states, “Based on a True Story,” it’s always impossible to know how much of the film is actually based on the truth. As an indie filmmaker myself for over 30 years, I know that creative license has to be taken in every single movie that claims to be based on fact because it is absolutely impossible for someone to be with another person 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so not even close family can attest to what someone was thinking all the time. Films always give us moments when a character appears to be contemplating something a particular way, or reflecting on a moment or a situation and it is in these quiet stretches, where Hollywood takes over and tries to imagine what must have been going through their mind. And in many ways, that makes perfect sense. If it is a known fact that a real-life person robbed a bank and took a hostage out of sheer desperation because they were unemployed and had a family to support, it only stands to reason that they would be worried about their family, and, indeed, their own lives, so for the periods of time where the person wasn’t interacting with someone else who could relay those feelings later on, then the screenwriter of the movie has to fill in the blanks.
While this is common practice in Tinseltown, it can also stretch the truth so far that we, as moviegoers, have a difficult time trying to differentiate between real life and Hollywood magic. Because “American Made” is based on the true story of Barry Seal, a TWA pilot who would go on to help the CIA fund the rebels in South America by flying supplies down to them, transported drugs for Pablo Escobar’s Medellin Cartel from Colombia to the U.S., and would eventually become a snitch for the DEA, so much happens in the film that it is almost impossible to imagine that it all transpired the way the movie depicts it. So the best way to approach this film is to simply sit back and have fun. Cruise is charismatic, as always, and he is aided by a terrific supporting cast. If you try to think about it too hard, you’ll end up hurting yourself. This story is based on the book ‘Smuggler’s End: The Life and Death of Barry Seal,’ which was written by former Marine and FBI agent Del Hahn, who admitted that he only had two personal meetings with Seal so if you take that into consideration, and the fact that much of what takes place in the movie occurs with Seal by himself, then the answer is right in front of you.
It is 1978 and Barry Seal (Tom Cruise) is a pilot working for TWA. He lives in Louisiana with his beautiful wife Lucy (Sarah Wright) and two children with a third on the way. On a stopover one evening, he is approached by a stranger in a bar who calls himself Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson). He proceeds to tell Seal that he knows about him smuggling Cuban cigars into the country to make a little extra cash and makes him an offer he can’t refuse: to fly covert reconnaissance missions over South America for the CIA using a small plane that they will provide, complete with cameras. Initially reluctant, he eventually accepts and pretends to his family that he is still working for TWA. He becomes so good at aerial surveillance, Schafer asks him to become a courier between the CIA and General Noriega in Panama. Again, he accepts, loving the adrenaline rush but on one of his returning missions, he is apprehended by the Medellin Cartel, headed by Pablo Escobar, who ask him to fly their cocaine into the U.S. They offer him a lot of money for every trip and he nervously agrees. Later, the CIA asks him to deliver guns to the Contras in Nicaragua so, between all of his undercover missions, he begins to make a lot of money but all good things must come to an end.
Eventually, the CIA gets nervous about the rebel groups in South America that they’ve been funding and decide to pull the plug. Schafer tells Seal that they’ll be in touch and at that point, Seal knows that things are going south. When the DEA, FBI, and state police turn up on his property and arrest him, instead of being put in prison, he is given clemency by the White House but in return, he must continue with his missions and get photographic proof that the Sandinistas are drug traffickers. With his plane loaded to the hilt with hidden cameras, he makes his way back to Colombia and as requested, snaps hundreds of photos of Escobar and his men dealing in drugs. Later, the photos are leaked to the TV stations and Seal can clearly be seen in them. With all government agencies dropping Seal now that they have their proof, with a contract on his head by the Medellin Cartel, he moves his family out of town to a safe location but decides to stay in Baton Rouge by himself to try and outsmart any would-be killers. Granted, his plans do not go according to plan.
Overall, the movie is entertaining, as entertaining as a story can be about a gun-running, drug-delivering, money-laundering pilot. Cruise infuses his character with so much damn animal magnetism and appeal, even though we know he is a crooked, flawed man, you can’t help but like him and root for him. Director Doug Liman, who worked with Cruise on the wholly enjoyable sci-fi romp, “Edge of Tomorrow,” and who helmed “The Bourne Identity” and “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” here steps away from conventional action films and delivers a rousing, funny, and at times, emotional story, about an enthusiastic and dynamic man with a passion for living who wanted a better life for his family, but sadly, in the end, succumbed to greed and paid the price dearly.
In theaters Friday, September 29th
